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News and Notes…

The Golden Glove:

Ryan Zimmerman has been golden at the hot corner. Zimmerman ranks among MLB leaders (min. 100 games) in total chances (MLB-best 389), total chances per 9.0 innings (MLB-best 3.20), assists (MLB-best 272), putouts (NL-best 102), range factor per 9.0 innings (MLB-best 3.08) and innings played (NL-best, 1093.2). Not to mention the number of Web Gems…

This season, “Baseball Tonight” has been tracking Web Gems and keeping score. They update the leaderboard on the Baseball Tonight Clubhouse page each Monday. In addition to listing the leaders in appearances (both players and teams) on “Baseball Tonight,” they offer up the leaders in Web Gem points.

Web Gem points are calculated by awarding five points for the night’s top defensive play, four points for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Scoring is based on the Web Gems from the last “Baseball Tonight” show to air on a given night.

Web Gem points leaderboard

Ryan Zimmerman

40

Jack Wilson

37

Brandon Inge

34

Mark Reynolds

31

Carlos Gomez

27

Jacoby Ellsbury

27

Cristian Guzman

25

Web Gem appearances leaderboard (players)

Ryan Zimmerman

Washington

Third base

13

Brandon Inge

Detroit

Third base

11

Jack Wilson

Pittsburgh-Seattle

Shortstop

9

David Wright

New York Mets

Third base

9

Mark Reynolds

Arizona

Third base

8

Three tied

7

Web Gem appearances leaderboard (teams)

Pittsburgh

34

Washington

32

Cincinnati

30

Philadelphia

29

Minnesota

27

Zimmerman has also been consistantly strong at the plate this season. The Baseball Tonight Clubhouse also notes that:

Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman was the talk of baseball when he put together a 30-game hit streak earlier this season, but after that streak ended in San Francisco, Zimmerman continued hitting and has quietly put together a career season.

Zimmerman is hitting .299 and slugging .528 with a .373 OBP entering Monday — all have the 24-year-old on pace for career highs. His 27 home runs represent a new career high, and are almost double his output from a season ago, when he struggled with injuries and played only 106 games.

Zimmerman hits to all fields. He goes to the opposite field much better than most right-handed batters, with a batting average more than 50 points higher than the league average and a slugging percentage nearly 300 points higher.

Zimmerman and the Nationals head to San Diego to start a three-game series on Monday with the Padres. Padres pitchers have held opposing right-handed batters to a .227 batting average (third-lowest in the majors) and a .325 slugging percentage (fourth lowest) to right field.

Ryan ZimmermanHitting by field (2009)

Zimmerman

MLB avg.

BA

SLG

BA

SLG

Left field

.382

.713

.354

.648

Center field

.438

.551

.348

.439

Right field

.318

.667

.263

.390

Nats Trade Belliard to Dodgers:

Three years ago today, the Dodgers acquired OF Marlon Anderson from the Nationals for RHP Jhonny Nunez. It went unnoticed to most people then and now has been forgotten by almost everyone but the trade yesterday that sent INF Ronnie Belliard to the Dodgers for Minor League pitcher Luis Garcia and a player to be named later gave us some time to remember it.

(Brief history of the trade for those who forgot about it or never knew it happened: Anderson was batting .274 with five home runs and 23 RBI and a .331 on-base percentage in 109 games with the Nats. Then Anderson joined the Dodgers and his numbers sky rocketed. He batted .375 with seven home runs and 15 RBI and a .431 on-base percentage in 25 games. On September 18th, the Dodgers sat a half game behind the NL West leading Padres. In the final game of the four game series against the Padres, Anderson went 5-for-5 with two home runs, three runs and two RBI and the Dodgers won a dramatic 11-10 game in 10 innings. They went on to win 9 of the last 12 games to win the wild card. He couldn’t quite propel the Dodgers past the Mets in the NLDS but he batted .308 (4-for-13) with an RBI before the Mets swept them in three games. Nunez was shipped to the Yankees on July, 31 2008 in return for Alberto Gonzalez. It worked out for both clubs.)

The Dodgers are trying to recapture the Marlon Anderson magic with Belliard. The 34-year-old Belliard hit .246 (46-for-187) with five home runs and 22 RBI in 86 games for the Nationals in 2009. He adds depth to the Dodgers bench and is a 12-year veteran who won a World Series with St. Louis in 2006. Belliard won’t get many starts but is a utility player that could give a few players a day off: Orlando Hudson at second base, James Loney at first base and Casey Blake at third base.

Garcia, 22, is currently 5-3 with five saves and a 2.92 ERA (23 ER/71.0 IP) in 34 appearances with Great Lakes of the Single-A Midwest League. He shows plus command, as he has walked just 15 in 71.0 innings (1.9 per 9.0 innings) en route to a 3.7/1 strikeout-to-walk and 1.8/1 ground out-to-air out ratios. In 16 appearances since the All-Star break, Garcia has registered a .220 batting average against (26-for-118).

In five-plus professional seasons, the 6-foot-2 Garcia is 14-7 with 14 saves and a 3.38 ERA (73 ER/194.2 IP) in 97 games. His career batting average against is .230 (168-for-732).

News that is still noteworthy:

The Nats lineup took a devastating blow on Thursday when Nyjer Morgan fractured his left hand sliding into third. Morgan was batting .307 with 42 stolen bases for the season, but since being acquired by Washington on June 30, he hit .351 with nine doubles, two triples, one homer, 12 RBI and 24 stolen bags. Morgan’s speed and unrivaled range in center field also stabilized the Nationals’ outfield defense as a whole.

The Nats selected the contract of 30-year-old infielder Pete Orr from Syracuse to replace Morgan on the roster. On Saturday, he had the first four hit performance of his career.

“I feel good,” Orr said. “I’m just trying to stick with what I was doing down there and try to have good at-bats, see a few pitches and deal with what I got instead of trying to make something happen. I’m having fun playing, and that’s the most important thing. I think when I have fun, I do better.”

Orr was batting .245 with 13 doubles, five triples, nine home runs, 50 RBI and 18 stolen bases in 120 International League contests for Syracuse. Orr earned the promotion by hitting .297 with three homers and 17 RBI in 26 games during August for the Chiefs.

Orr is a career .261 (116-for-444) hitter with 14 doubles, two home runs, 25 RBI and 11 stolen bases in 320 Big League games with Washington (2008) and Atlanta (2005-07). He has twice represented Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

Maxwell recalled:

The Nats recalled outfielder Justin Maxwell from Syracuse today.

Maxwell, 25, returns for the third stint with the Nationals this season. To date, Maxwell has played in 13 games for the Nationals, going 3-for-24 (.125) with one RBI and three stolen bases. He is a career .200 (10-for-50) hitter at the Big League level with two home runs and six RBI in 28 games.

In 111 games with Syracuse this season, Maxwell hit .242 (93-for-384) with 10 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs, 42 RBI, 54 walks and 35 stolen bases. He is considered an excellent defensive outfielder with well-above-average range and arm strength. On May 23 at Nationals Park, Maxwell made perhaps the finest catch in the history of the Nationals as he tracked a long drive over 60 yards into right-center field, leapt and reached over the wall to rob Baltimore’s Adam Jones of what would have been a first-inning home run.

Maxwell was the Nationals’ 2007 Minor League Player of the Year as he was just one of six professional players–the lone minor leaguer–to tally at least 25 doubles, 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases that season.

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